TCF talks to Nicholas Latifi: “I am looking forward to this new experience”

With the Porsche Carerra Cup Great Britain championship starting this weekend at Brands Hatch, The Checkered Flag took some time out to speak to one of its international stars that will make his full-time debut in the series in 2015 – Nicholas Latifi.

The Canadian racer will be supplementing his single seater career in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with the Arden Motorsport team with his Porsche commitments with Redline Racing.

Latifi spoke about his reasons why he decided to dovetail a tin-top campaign in Great Britain alongside his European single-seater running.

“With only 9 weekends in the FR3.5 series there is lots of free time during the year,” revealed Latifi. “We chose to also contest the Porsche Carrera Cup GB to fill the gaps between these races for added track time and close wheel to wheel racing, which is difficult to have in formula cars.”

He felt happy coming back to Redline Racing for 2015, having competed in the round at Rockingham last season, and insisted it was a logical decision to rejoin the team for this season.

“I did a few test days with the team last year as well as contested a race meeting and I really enjoyed my experience with them,” said the Canadian. “They are professional and friendly guys to be around with a great track record in the series. It was the logical choice for me.

“I remember [my debut] quite well. I had never driven the car I was racing in before that weekend so it was all brand new to me. I ended the first practice session 1st and qualified 2nd and 4th.

“Unfortunately in the races I made some mistakes due to my lack of experience racing sedans and didn’t get the results I wanted but there was great potential there.”

Whereas he is hoping for a championship challenge in Formula Renault, he has very different expectations in the Porsche 911 GT3 car, especially with the fact that Latifi will miss the round at Silverstone in September due to a clash with a FR3.5 race in France.

“For the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, my expectations are to challenge myself and to be fighting at the front,” insisted Latifi. “It is quite a bit different from what I’m used to so I am looking forward to this new experience.

“Realistically, fighting for the championship will be difficult considering I will be missing one race weekend due to a conflict with the FR3.5 series.”

Latifi reveals the differences between his two cars for 2015, and reveals an alteration in his driving style for the much heavier Porsche, but is looking forward to the closer racing that the series offers compared to his Formula Renault car.

“The two differ quite a lot,” revealed Latifi. “The Porsche is much heavier, doesn’t create downforce like a formula car, and the obvious thing is that it is closed wheel racing. The driving styles are quite a bit different due to these differences and they each require different skills to be able to extract the most from each.

“I’m most looking forward to the close wheel to wheel racing that is difficult to have in formula cars because of the turbulent air that makes it difficult to stay close to another car.”